Select Local Merchants

Dedicated to the preservation and celebration of the state?s storied past, the Minnesota Historical Society dutifully curates 26 historic sites and museums that help visitors delve into days of yore?from the Forest History Center in Grand Rapids to the Jeffers Petroglyphs in Comfrey and Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore.
Explore the Minnesota History Center?s collection of artifacts, local artworks, and hands-on exhibits at the History Center in St. Paul, from Civil War battle flags to Prince's suit from Purple Rain. Temporary exhibits include American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of
Prohibition, on display through March 16, and Toys of the '50s, '60s and '70s, opening May 24. Mill City Museum in Minneapolis chronicles the linked histories of the flour industry, Minneapolis, and the Mississippi River, sending visitors through history as they traverse each floor on an eight-story elevator ride that depicts a working day at the mill. As a bonus, baking-lab demonstrations produce balmy bread samples and historically accurate stomach rumbles.

In 1905, the Minnesota State Capitol building opened to the public; more than a century later, it continues to welcome more than 120,000 visitors each year to the home of the state government’s three branches. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by acclaimed architect Cass Gilbert, the building lays claim to world’s second-largest self-supporting marble dome, a title the dome maintains by working a second job as the back-up roof of the Metrodome. Within the white Georgia marble and Saint Cloud–granite exterior of the edifice, 67 senators and 134 representatives wrangle with politics while striding through stately corridors and chambers decorated by murals, sculptures, and paintings carefully selected by Gilbert to complement the building’s elegant style. Hand-painted arabesques and local flora swirl overhead on the vaulted ceilings, and the brushstrokes of John LaFarge depict legal concepts above the bench of Minnesota’s supreme court. Visitors can drop into the rathskeller café, which evokes a German eating hall with restored murals, for a bite to eat and a toast to the health of the state’s royal family.

Epic Vow Wedding Photography owner Nicole Daniels carefully pairs members of her shutter squad with engaged couples for wedding shoots befitting each client’s personal style. Photographers snap an average of 100 high-quality digital images during four-hour nuptials and anywhere from 200 to 400 pictures at ceremonies exceeding five hours. Nicole digitally edits the strongest shots herself, ensuring that any facial blemishes, lipstick smudges, or ghostly apparitions are eradicated from final prints. Along with a trio of packages, Nicole preserves colorized and black and white photographs by mounting images on hardboard masonite or canvas, assembling shots in a softbound or wave-accordion album, or creating metallic prints.

The celluloid specialists at ScanDigital turn grainy 3"x5" photos and dented VHS tapes into dependable digital files that fill the future with the pleasant retrospections and introspections of a warm and wonderful past. With $100 worth of services, you can digitize roughly 200 photos, 170 negatives, 145 slides, seven 3’’ 8mm film reels, or five videocassettes; mix any of the memory mediums of ScanDigital services (click here to see all the formats). The digitization process includes photo color correction and cleaning and prepping film to ensure the highest possible transfer quality. Go online and fill out a form that generates a shipping label, then mail the materials. After about a week, you get back the original copies along with their new, high-quality clones on DVD.

Artist Mai O'Brion often greets visitors to her gallery with a mug of tea?and then immediately engages them in conversation. Over intermittent sips, she tells them that she and a few fellow artists once dreamed of a different, welcoming kind of gallery and artist collective. They soon banded together to found Chaos Art Gallery & Studio, reaffirming their commitment to showcasing accessible exhibits from local and international artists and mentoring members and students alike.
Inside the studio, Mai and other artists teach several painting classes for groups and individuals. Their most popular offerings are the two-hour BYOB Creative Painting Classes, which invite groups of students to paint one of several chosen subjects, or inspire them to create their own works. Over BYOB classes, students soak in direction as instructors share tips to the group and give one-on-one attention to individuals. Instructors also lead a five-week Art Intensive course, which starts students off with a black-and-white composition drawing and builds their technique until they can complete a painting from a live model.